


old acquaintance be forgot

by tehhumi



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Uncle/Nephew Incest, and are no longer involved, maglor shows up for a minute at the end, they were the same age to be clear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 04:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21386296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tehhumi/pseuds/tehhumi
Summary: Finarfin sees Maedhros again for the first time in five hundred years.
Relationships: finarfin/maedhros
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	old acquaintance be forgot

King Finarfin of Tirion had been coordinating with King Gil-Galad of Beleriand ever since his army landed, but it wasn’t enough. They needed every soldier possible working together to defeat Morgoth. So, after months of nerve-wracking negotiating through messengers, they were finally sitting down with Lord Maedhros to discuss a temporary alliance, with food and information shared and no judgement for the past until Morgoth was defeated. What sentence Maedhros would then receive for his crimes, and who would give it, had been carefully not mentioned. 

Maedhros was helpful. He shared tactics that had failed and succeeded in previous battles, where his scouts had last seen orcs, and which units of the army he thought would work well with his command rather than shoot them. He addressed both kings as “your majesty,” never once mentioning his allegiance to anyone more recent than Finwe.

Finarfin couldn’t help but compare this elf to the murderer he had heard of in reports and rumors; Maedhros was far less volatile than he had been led to believe. But Finarfin also compared him to the elf he had grown up with; Maedhros was far more ruthless than either of them could have imagined back then.

Finarfin was old enough to remember how their family had been before his brother Feanor hated him and Nolofinwe. Maedhros was only a year older than Finarfin, and as elves had children so rarely, they had played together regularly. By the time Finarfin was old enough to have children of his own, Feanor was suspicious of anyone who might compete for the throne, or Finwe’s attention, so he had never been close to Maedhros’s younger brothers. 

But Maedhros and Finarfin had done everything together. They had found their way over the walls into the blackberry gardens, and into the treasury to play dress up with necklaces worth more than a whole herd of fine horses, and into the buttery. Indeed, the first time Finarfin had gotten drunk was with Maedhros. They had known dimly that one day they would be seperated, as Feanor wished for Maedhros to rule Formenos. The idea of either of them being king had been impossible, with Finwe wise and immortal, and Feanor, Maedhros’s father and Finarfin’s elder brother, seemingly indomitable. The number of people who would have to die for either of the to take the throne was laughable. They had mimed kneeling while the other gave orders until Finarfin collapsed in giggles.

Maedhros and Finarfin had known each other intimately. They swam and hiked together across what felt at the time like the whole world. Lending an arm up out of the water or a deep ravine was natural, regardless of how dressed they were. And one day Finarfin suggested they practice kissing. Technically, all of what they had done together could be considered practicing kissing or lending a helping hand, though the kisses had not been limited to mouths, and the hands had made each other dizzy as often as steadied. By the time they were of age, they had known every inch of each other’s skin. 

Then Maedhros had come of age, and Feanor told insisted he learn how to rule rather than waste time with one of Indis’s family. Finarfin had come of age the next year, and fallen in love with a woman from the sea, but he and Maedhros had continued to be friends rather than the distant acquaintances Feanor might have wished. 

Finarfin looked and looked, but he saw no trace of his old friend in Maedhros’s face now. Every inch of smooth skin he had once known was now covered in scars. Every smile that was once friendly was cutting. 

Still, they had a war to fight. 

* * *

“Uncle Finarfin was looking at you strangely throughout the whole meeting.”

“I noticed.”

Maglor rolled his eyes. “Do you have any idea why?”

“I think he’s expecting me to blackmail him.”

“Are you going to? And why don’t I know about this blackmail?”

“No, he doesn’t have anything we want. And it’s all very old news, from before you were grown.”

“I never heard of you two being troublemakers as youths!”

“Hence why it would still be good blackmail - I doubt even Aunt Earwen knows this. But it would hurt me as much as him.”

“You can’t expect me to ignore it if you keep dropping interesting hints.”

“I can, and I do. Drop the subject, that’s an order.”

“Fine, I’ll just work on the lyrics for ‘Finarfin the brave’. Do you have any good rhymes for 'fawning turncoat'?”


End file.
